Not Quite A Robin
by zefo
Summary: After a thief breezes through batman's security and steals an R-cycle, the last thing Dick expected was for the thief to show up at Titan Tower claiming to be Robin. please review
1. Chapter 1

The harsh blue light of a holographic screen illuminated the living room of Titan Tower. Four windows were open on the screen, each cycling through video feeds of cameras throughout the city. The numbers of the clock flashed in the bottom right hand corner of the screen as another minute passed by, now reading 3:43 A.M.

Robin rested his chin on the back of his hands as he watched the screen with an unblinking stare. Sleep had come poorly to him tonight. He had been restless, and when he finally did manage to close his eyes his dreams were fraught with nightmares of a falling couple, a laughing clown, and a one eyed man. After a while he had just given up and moved out here to watch for crime. Once, there was a time he forced himself to stay up and pour over these feeds in his obsessive search for that one eyed man. Slade. Robin's fingers clenched at the thought of that name. No, he no longer rigorously scoured the city looking for the man, but it was always in the back of his mind. There had been a tense edge in his shoulders ever since Beast Boy reported his run in with that Slade bot. He was out there, and Robin was waiting for the axe to drop.

The videos on screen shifted to a new set of cameras. The clock ticked over to 3:47. Robin stared on.

The silence was shattered by the quiet blip of Robin's communicator. He instinctively moved to answer his Titan com before he realized the tune was wrong. With some surprise, he straightened up and answered his other communicator.

"Robin."

"Batman."

Robin's hands tightened on the device as he failed to detect any warmth in his mentor's voice. After such an awful parting, he had hoped that being away might help, but clearly nothing had changed. It was the same old batman, with the same old emotional distance. "I'm sure this isn't a social call" He continued with heat in his voice.

"No. I've called to warn you about a criminal heading your way. He stole an R-cycle an-"

Robin cut batman off with a startled "WHAT?!". Wincing at his own loud exclamation, robin peeked up at the door to make sure he hadn't woken any of his team mates before glancing back down at the face of his mentor in the device. The Bat Scowl had deepened from being interrupted. "Someone broke into the Batcave?!"

"No." Batman growled "If you would let me finish. It was taken from the bunker under Wayne Industries. The GPS tracked it heading in the direction of Jump City before going offline. I want you on the lookout for this thief. You know the security we have on this bunker. You know how difficult it is to get past. He even fooled the voice recognition. Whoever took your r-cycle… has very intimate knowledge of our security, and possibly our identities." Batman paused to let information sink in for robin. "I'll be heading over in about four days."

"Bruce!" robin hissed "I don't need you coming out here to hold my hand! I can handle this!"

"That's why I'm not coming out immediately." Robin refrained from groaning. He's sure that was Bruce's attempt at some sort of backhanded compliment."There's a crisis here in Gotham. I want you to deal with this situation until I arrive. Batman out."

Robin tossed his communicator on the coffee table in front of him and buried his face in his had been gone for almost two years and Bruce hadn't changed a bit. Still the same old emotionally constipated bat who can't just come and out and say things. Why had he expected anything different?

"Dude." Beastboy groaned as shuffled into the living room like a zombie and squinted against the harsh light of the big screen. "It's like, four in the morning. What are you doing?"

Robin twisted around to give beastboy a questioning look "What are –you- doing here at four in the morning?"

"pre- breakfast snack, man."

* * *

Once it reached a more reasonable hour in the morning and the rest of the team were up and about, Robin approached them with the situation. He took a seat out of Beat Boy and Cyborg's breakfast splash zone and laid his hands on the table. Starfire stopped pouring mustard on her pancakes as she glanced up, giving robin a concerned look. Her feet touched the ground as she observed his tense posture and grim face. "Is something the matter Robin? Please tell us!"

"I… need your help." The words were difficult for Robin to spit out. This was a personal matter, between him, batman, and the thief. However, he had learned his lesson well about trying to leave his friends out and do things on his own.

"We're here for you, man!" Cyborg chimed in "Just tell us the problem."

"Some one's stolen the R-cycle…"

"Aw no, not red X again!" Cyborg groaned, slapping a palm to his face. "Can't that guy just leave us alone?"

"No, not Cycle here at the tower. The one I have in Gotham."

Raven's quick shield was the only thing that saved the Titans from Beast Boy's fountain of spit out tofu. "This guy stole from BATMAN? **THE** BATMAN?" Beast Boy ripped at his hair in disbelief "Who is this guy?!"

"We don't know-"

"YOU DIDN'T EVEN GET HIM ON TAPE?!"

"- what we do know" Robin spoke over his teammate firmly. "Is that GPS tracked him heading towards jump before it went offline. That was about three hours ago."

Cyborg immediately flipped open a panel in his arm. "I can track him through social media sites. People are bound to report "robin" sightings. Even going full speed, it should be another hour before this guy makes it to Jump."

"Good. That gives us time to prepare." Robin glanced around the table at his team mates. Raven was watching him, the determined look in her eyes all the confirmation he needed that she was with him. Starfire was rising into the air, hands clenched into fists as righteous fury came over her. Cyborg was typing away on his arm, tracking sightings, and beast boy… well, beastboy was still freaking out over the fact that someone had stolen from batman.

A map popped up on the screen in front of the couches. A red line connected dots, beginning in Bludhaven and stopping shortly outside of Jump. "These are reports of R-cycle sightings since early this morning. We won't know the exact time or location of this guy's arrival, but we'll have a pretty good idea of when and where." The map zoomed in on the area in the north east side of town. Robin walked up to it, studying the highways and interstates leading into the city from that location. He turned back to the team, who were all standing and ready to help.

"Titans, GO!"


	2. Chapter 2

_Feedback is always welcome, and don't be afraid to tell me if something's wrong._

_I should also mention that this takes place after the last episode of Teen Titans, and with a slightly AU version of the batman comics where Dick stayed as batman rather than retaking his mantle of Nightwing and Damian didn't die. May also tie in with a future fic I have planned featuring younger heroes_

* * *

Robin shot down the main drag at what any normal person would call a reckless speed. For the boy wonder, it was just another day of chasing down criminals on his R-cycle. Starfire flew in the sky behind him, steadily losing ground to the speed demon despite her advantage of flight. As they approached the exit of a tunnel Robin hit the brakes and screeched to a halt. "Cyborg." Robin called on his communicator "We're in position."

"Copy that. Raven, BB and I are almost there."

It was only moments later that Cyborg radioed back. "Never mind! He's early!" Squealing tires and the rev of the T-car's engine nearly drown out Cyborg's shout as he raced off in pursuit. "Just spotted him speeding off the Bay Bridge! He's heading South on Library road!"

Starfire squeaked in surprise as the back of Robin's motorcycle swung around and shot off back the way they had come. "Friend Robin, wait!" She called, flying after him. Robin raced on without her, either unable to hear her or not caring. He crouched low, trying to coax a little bit of extra speed from his machine. At the intersection up ahead a flash of red sped by in a blur. Right on its tail was the T-car. Robin hit the turn and chased after them, quickly gaining ground until he was side by side with the T-car.

"Hope you don't mind your motorcycle getting ruffed up."

"I just care about catching this guy." Robin scanned the nearly empty interior of the t-car. "Where are the others?"

"Setting up a trap. Just help me get this guy on 35th. Robin nodded and sped up, weaving through traffic and slowly gaining on the Thief. Batman must has been upgrading the bike to make it perform this well, but not even he could match the mechanical expertise of Cyborg.

A break in the traffic opened up and Robin was able to pull up alongside the left of the thief and get his first good look at the man who waltzed through batman's security like it was nothing. The rider was small, far too small to be an adult. The oversized black leather and biker helmet he wore made it difficult to pin an age on him. He must have been thirteen? Maybe fourteen? What really alarmed Robin was the Katana strapped to the kid's back. Robin reached out to snatch the weapon away, but the thief swerved out of his reach. "Pull over and surrender!" he shouted over the roar of the engines. The thief kindly responded by ramming into Robin.

Robin's motorcycle veered sharply to the left from the impact and wobbled dangerously. The thief took a sharp right down a narrow alley, trying to shake Robin while he had the lead. As he burst out of the other end of the alley, the thief nearly crashed into the waiting T-car. He took a left, trying to outrun cyborg, but was met with Robin at the intersection. Another sharp right and the thief once again found his path blocked by a titan: Starfire. Perhaps sensing he was being herded, the rider blasted past Starfire, deftly dodging the green bolts of energy she fired after him. He shot down a road flanked by tall factories and little traffic. With nothing but a strait open road before him, the thief rocketed ahead, leaving robin and the t-car far behind. He was going so fast he nearly didn't have time to stop as a black engulfed semi slammed down in the middle of the road. Cyborg and Robin rolled up to block the other end of the street. The thief look at robin, then to Raven, Beast boy, and Starwhire, who had just flown down and landed on top of the semi. Trapped. Raven's black magic engulfed the back wheel of the stolen R-cycle, preventing him from trying any stunts. "Ready to give up now?" She asked.

"Give up?" The thief asked, voice muffled and distorted by the helmet. "-tt-"

The quiet 'clack' of a small black marble bouncing across the ground was all the warning the team had. Raven, Beastboy, and Starfire yelled as a concussive flashbang knocked the trio to the ground. The stolen r-cycle peeled out as the tire was released from Raven's magic. The thief gunned it: driving right through a window into a factory. Robin threw his helmet aside and raced after him on foot. It was dark inside the factory. The whine of the r-cycles engine echoed off the walls of the large deserted interior. Robin extended his bo-staff and prowled towards the center of the factory, trying to catch a glimpse of the thief. "Give up! There's nowhere left to go."

The stolen R-cycles headlight burst to life on the floor above robin. It was racing up a conveyor belt leading to the fourth story. Robin unhooked a grapple from his belt and shot a line to the rafters above. He flew past the Thief, reaching the catwalk at the end of the conveyor just before the rider. He squinted against the glare of the headlights and brought his bo-staff up.

The thief revved the engine. "Stop." Robin ordered.

The r-cycle surged forward. Robin dropped his staff and grabbed the side of the railing, flipping over it and out of the path of the insane driver. The r-cycle continued at full speed until it smashed into a brick wall.

Robin pulled himself back up over the railing, eyes wide with shock and disbelief from what he had just seen. "No.." he whispered, cautiously approaching the wreck of twisted metal with shaking hands. "Why?" The word tumbled around in his brain as he dug for the body in the mess. Why didn't he just stop? Why come all the way up here in the first place? Where would he go on the fourth floor? Was he just desperate?

Robin's confusion only increased when he found no body. Just when he was starting to wonder if it had fallen over the side of railing, he stopped. He clutched the R-cycle's computer in his hands. The words 'auto pilot' flashing on the screen caused the young hero's eyes to narrow in a very good imitation of the Batglare.

The factory was bathed in green light as Starfire rose to join robin on the catwalk. "Friend Robin?" she asked as she approached hesitantly. Her gaze fell on the wreckage of the motorcycle, then shifted to robin, who knelt beside it clutching the computer." Is… Are you well? "

"I'm fine Star… but he got away." She looked relived at the knowledge that it was only a broken machine, and not also a broken body. "Do not worry, Robin. We _will_ find this thief."

"Sorry about leaving you behind. Catching this guy… it just means a lot. It won't happen again."

"I appreciate it Robin." She smiled shyly and offered a hand to him. Robin dropped the computer and took it, allowing Starfire to give him a ride to bottom floor. "Come. The others are worried, and Cyborg speaks of a break in at the bank. "

Robin and Starfire's feet touched the ground, but he didn't let go of her hand. He smiled up at her, keeping their fingers laced and walking out side by side with her. The group was waiting expectantly around the t-car. Robin shook his head, letting them he had lost the theif.

"Look man, I know you want to keep looking for this guy, but we've got an e-"

Robin raised a hand to cut Cyborg off. "I know... let's go."

* * *

It was dark by the time the team returned to Titan Tower. Even though the day had gone well, with the team successfully thwarting both Mad Mod at the bank and Control freak at a convention, spirits were low. They had never picked up the thief's trail. It was completely cold. After several hours searching, the exhausted team had finally given up and piled in the t-car to go home.

As Cyborg's car rolled up, the headlights illuminated a small figure standing in front of the tower. He stopped the car, keeping the stranger caught in the headlights as robin rolled out of the passenger seat with a birdarang in hand. Beastboy snuck out of the car as a mouse, flanking around the left, while raven phased out of the wall of Titan Tower behind figure. He was a strange sight, looking to be around ten or eleven years old. He wore an eye jarring costume of green boots with red laces, black pants and belt, a red vest with an "R" emblem stitched over his heart, a green domino mask like robin's, and a black hood with a cape that was yellow on the inside.

But what caught Robin's attention most was the Katana strapped to the boy's back and the pile of black leather clothing and biker helmet on the ground next to him.

"Tt" The boy made that strange tsking sound again. He crossed his arms, looking down at the team petulantly. "Took you long enough. I've been waiting."

Robin's lip curled in a snarl. "Who are you?" he growled.

The boy looked at him like he was dumb and gestured to his garish clothing. "What does it look like? I'm Robin."

"Dude!" Beastboy shifted into his human form and jabbed his finger at the imposter Robin. The boy's nose scrunched up in distaste at the offending appendage. "It's not even close to Halloween, and you don't look anything like Robin!"

"What are you doing here? Robin growled again.

"I've waited outside long enough. Take me inside, and I'll explain."

Robin shot Cyborg a look. Cyborg answered the unspoken question. "We've got an empty training room near the roof. We can keep him in there. If he doesn't have a good explanation for this, we can send him to jail."

Robin shifted his attention to the boy. He was looking bored, and not the least bit intimidated by the team of super heroes surrounding him. "Alright… But give up your blade. " He hesitated a moment before adding "And your boots, belt and gloves."

There was no way Bruce had trained this kid, but whoever this thief was, he had obviously patterned himself after robin. Better safe than sorry. The kid pulled a face, obviously displeased by the request, but he shed the requested item and dropped them in the pile.

Robin nodded to raven. A band of Black appeared around the boy's eyes. "Take him in."

* * *

The boy sat tied to a chair in the middle of an empty room. The blindfold was no longer necessary, but they had kept it on for intimidation. It didn't seem to be having much of an effect, however. The boy sat in the chair like it was some kind of throne. Starfire had opted to remain out of the interrogation, not having the stomach for it, and the others had just kicked Beastboy out for being Beastboy. Robin paced the room, choosing to let Cyborg take the lead for now. The entire situation was pushing his buttons: The theft of his motorcycle, the thief getting away, the thief claiming to be robin… He didn't trust himself to think clearly right now. Raven floated in a corner, legs crossed and calmly meditating. She was monitoring the thief's emotions, to tell when he was lying.

"Alright" Cyborg crossed his arms "Start talking, kid."

"I'm Robin from an alternate universe."

"You expect us to believe that?"

"I expect you to consider it. I want to speak with Robin."

Cyborg leaned over the kid, getting right in his face. "You get to speak to _me_."

"Uhg" The boy wrinkled his nose " your breath is awful."

Cyborg backed off and glanced at Raven. She nodded, confirming that that boy at least believed he was from another universe. If that was true or if he was just crazy had yet to be seen.

"If you're Robin from another universe, then why did you run from us earlier today?"

"For all I knew, you could have been alternate criminal versions of the people I know. I needed to look up basic history and information before I made contact with anyone."

"Why not stay in Gotham then? Why drive all the way out to Jump to get a little background information?"

The boy scowled, blindly looking around the room. "Tt. I will not answer anymore question for _you_. Where is Grayson? I want to speak to Grayson."

Cyborg 's shocked gaze snapped over to Robin. Grayson was his name? This kid knew his secret ID? From the look on Robin's face, he was just as stunned. Raven placed a hand on both their arms. "Ok. Team meeting, outside, right now."

Cyborg unlocked the door and beastboy fell through flat on his face. "Heh heh." He grinned up at them sheepishly "How's it goin guys?"

Cyborg grabbed his arm and dragged Beastboy out with them before closing and locking the door again. Cy turned to Robin, who look visibly shaken from the whole thing. "Anything you want to say, Rob?"

Robin… Dick… Blew out a long breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah…There are…a lot of things I want to say. Tonight, ok? I think I need to have a private talk with…." He gestured to the door behind them " "robin" first. "

Cyborg gave him a long searching look. He finally nodded, speaking quietly "ok. Alright. Are you going to be fine in there with him?"

Robin unlocked the door and nodded as he stepped inside. "Yeah. Raven? Can you get rid of the blindfold?"

She watched him, her calm emotionless gaze giving no hint what she was thinking. "Is _he_ going to be fine with you in there?"

Robin closed the door.

Raven's blindfold was gone. The boy watched him silently, posture not quite as regal and ridged as before. There was a slump in the shoulders now, a curve in his neck as he deigned to look up at robin. For a while Robin simply stood there and stared. The silence between them was louder than any words. Finally, Robin began to approach; slowly drawing a needle from one of the many pouches on is utility belt. The boy didn't even flinch as Robin took a DNA sample. He then crouched down to eye level with the prisoner and gently pried the green domino mask off. Familiar, icy blue, regretful eyes stared back into his. "I thought you'd have told them by now..." The boy whispered.

"Why didn't you go to batman?" Robin's voice was gruff and emotionless. He was falling back on his training to handle a situation he didn't know how to deal with.

The boy furrowed his brow and looked away. "Father was never really my batman, and I was not his Robin." There was a slight waver in the boy's voice that Dick recognized. Anger. Hurt. Rejection. With those eyes, Dick could make a pretty guess at who 'father' was too. The DNA sample would be the best confirmation or discredit of the boy's story.

"Why come to jump?"

Once again the boy gazed up at Dick with those piercing blue eyes. There was a plea in them, a longing that he couldn't pin. "I knew you could be more open to my story. Innocent until proven guilty-"

"Rather than guilty until proven innocent." He knew it was another reason the boy hadn't gone to Bruce. "One last question."

Robin reached up to his own mask, prying it off. He stared the boy in the eyes and smiled softly. "What's your name."

The boy genuinely smiled at Dick's show of trust. "Damian Wayne."

Robin rose from his haunches and flipped a birdarang open. He sliced through Damian's restraints with two strokes. "Don't leave the tower. You're free to move around it as you please."

"My things?"

"Don't expect to get the sword back."

"tt"

* * *

Next chapter: How Damian arrived and trouble in Jump


	3. Chapter 3

_I made a few tweaks to the first chapter when RoseMirror brought up a very good point about how easily batman just came out and said he trusts robin. There's a little more friction between the two now. Constructive criticism like this is always welcomed. And please pardon any spelling/ grammar errors. The friend who usually proof reads my stuff isn't really a superhero fan, so I'm on my own. _

_I'm going to try and get at least two chapters a week up. This chapter is a little longer than usual._

* * *

Dick crossed his arms and pensively watched Damian rub circulation back into his wrists and ankles. There were many more questions to be asked: first and most important being how he arrived in this dimension, and other less important but equally urgent questions such as what had happened to Bruce and why this boy was running around with a lethal weapon. Dick could hear Bruce's training in his head; Get the information while it's fresh, don't give him time to make a story, don't take anything at face value. That training had come in handy more time than Dick could count.

Damian stood, stifling a yawn and impatiently waiting for dick to make a move.

Sometimes, training wasn't enough. Sometimes you just had to trust. That's why he was Robin and not another bat. Looking down at Damian now, he wasn't some thief, vigilante, liar, or villain. He was a ten year old boy. A tired ten year old boy who looked increasingly annoyed.

"Are you just going to stand in front of the door all night?"

Dick almost felt like he didn't need to do run the DNA test to confirm Damian's parentage. Every time this kid opened his mouth it was another nail in the coffin. "Come on." He grumbled while unlocking the door. "There's a spare room you can stay in."

He led the boy down the other end of the hallway, stopping just two doors from the end and typing a passcode in. "We keep this one ready in case another Titan visits. One of the sets of spare clothes should be about your size."

He stepped aside to allow Damian entry. The boy hesitated.

"What's wrong?"

Damian shifted, scanning the doors lining the hallway before turning his gaze to Dick. "… It's nothing. Good night Grayson."

Robin's reply died on his tongue as the door snapped closed in front of him. He suppressed a sigh, heading into his own room and getting started on analyzing the blood sample. In a few hours the machine would be able to tell Dick if the kid really was related to Bruce. As an afterthought, Dick set his computer to search for a match amongst a list of women Batman was familiar with. Robin made sure Selina Kyle was at the top of that list. With that done, dick turned his attention to the items taken from Damian. He went through the utility belt, laying all the items on the table. Birdarangs of all kinds, grapple lines, smoke pellets, flash bangs, lock picks, basic hacking tools, communicators, matches, a sliver of kryptonite, and a few pieces of valuable jewelry; all common items in both Batman and robin's arsenal, even the jewelry, which was used in emergencies. The boots and gloves were packed with secret compartments holding additional lock picks and small squares of plastic explosives. Even Damian's mask held secrets. The lenses over the eyes contained basic Heads-up display and night vision. All these items were made of an advanced Kevlar fabric, better than anything Robin had at this time. Dick cut a small piece out to send to Lucius Fox for synthesis and reproduction.

That just left the sword. Dick was almost disappointed when he found no hidden compartments or surprises. As finely crafted as it was, the low-tech weapon seemed out of place next to the other Robin's items. Even dick's bo staff was retractable. Robin hefted the weapon, looking up at the clock. Nine fourty. It was time to stop stalling and face his friends. He took the sword with him as he headed for the living room.

Things were far less chaotic than Robin had expected when he entered the living area. Raven was calm and collected as usual, sitting in the kitchen area drinking tea. Starfire hovered around the room nervously. Cyborg was doing his best to hold back a large green rhinoceros. "Let Robin have his privacy!"

"But he could be in danger!" The changeling insisted as he struggled against Cyborg. "That kid could be like, a super ninja assassin sent here to get rid of Robin! We need to be there... to protect him! Yeah!"

"I appreciate your concern Beast boy, but I'm fine." The rhinoceros snorted and shifted back into the sullen form of a boy.

Starfire's nervous hovering came to a stop as her feet lightly touched the ground. "What of the young Robin?" She gazed up at Robin, staring into deep blue of his for the first time with wide eyed concern. "What is to be done about him?"

"His name is Damian. He'll be staying in the tower for now. I left him in the spare bedroom."

"Are you SERIOUS?!" Bestboy exploded. "After chasing him around Jump and then spending the afternoon trying to track him down, you're just letting him go!?" Cyborg looked displeased with the information as well, frowning as he took a seat on the couch.

"No." Robin brought up the screen. Displayed on it was a video feed of the spare room. Damian had changed into a pain white t-shirt and grey sweatpants and was asleep on the bed. "There's enough evidence to allow him at least this much trust. He's staying in the tower where we can keep a good eye on him until further testing can confirm his story. One of us will always be up and around to watch him." He tossed the sword he brought to Cyborg. "I want you to run scans on this for residual energy."

Cyborg caught it in the air. "Anything else?"

Dick ran a nervous hand through his hair. Now or never. "Yeah. I think it's about time I told you who I am."

* * *

Damian looked himself over in the mirror, making sure his mask was correctly in place. It was still early, roughly five thirty in the morning, but the young robin doubted he would be getting any more sleep. After initially drifted off due to sheer exhaustion Damian had a fitful night of sleep. He had grown accustomed to using an iPod help him sleep.

On the bright side, this probably meant he could avoid most of the team and eat breakfast in peace.

He had found his boots, gloves, and mask placed outside his door. Grayson had decided to hang on to his utility belt along with his sword. He would need to get those back soon, but for the time being he wouldn't need those to raid the Titan's database for information on trans-dimensional devices.

Damian's hopes of a quiet breakfast were dashed when he entered the living area to the sight of the green one nodding off on the couch. "Tt." He quietly snuck over to the fridge, trying to grab a plate of food and retreat to the sanctuary of his temporary room. Damian immediately gagged after opening the door. The fridge was a disgusting mess of old food, pizza boxes, and the abominations Starfire called food. Damian wrinkled his nose and braved the petri dish they called a fridge to grab a flat, white block in a mostly intact wrapper.

Rapid sniffing altered Damian to the presence of Beastboy at his side. "uuh.. you know that's tofu, right?"

"Of course I know it's tofu. "

Beastboy lit up like it was Christmas. "You're a Vegetarian!? Dude, I was all wrong about you!"

Damian 'Tt'd in annoyance as he shoved a hand in Beastboy's face to block and attempted hug. The changeling recoiled, clutching his nose and grumbling "Ok, maybe not _all_ wrong."

"You shouldn't be so surprised at the fact you were wrong." The haughty boy smirked as he took a seat and calmly cut into his plate of Tofu. "I'm sure it happens all the time."

Beastboy slammed his fist down on the table with an indignant cry of "What is your PROBLEM?" and Damian raised his knife defensively. The door whooshed open to admit Raven before things could escalate further. She took one look at the situation and spoke up. "Beastboy, stop bothering our guest."

"Seriously!? How do you know he wasn't bothering me?"

"Because you're Beastboy." A tea kettle turned black , levitating under the faucet and filling with water as Raven drifted over. Damian smirked.

Beastboy threw his hands up in frustration and stomped out into the hallway. " Whatever. I'm going to sleep."

Raven sat across from Damian and sipped her tea, studying him impassively while he ate. Eventually Damian grew tired of her staring and threw down his fork. "Speak if you have something to say."

"…You're afraid."

He slapped his hands down on the counter and rose angrily. "'I'm not afraid!"

"Not of this situation." She continued as if Damian weren't fuming and within easy reach of a knife not three feet away." Not of any person. But you're afraid, for some thing or some reason." Damian backed down, swallowing hard and staring down at his plate, stubbornly refusing to admit anything. "Try not to take it out on Beastboy next time. He might be painfully unfunny, klutzy, lazy, and a slacker, but he's fought alongside Robin and the rest of us for two years and deserves at least a modicum of respect."

Damian stabbed a square of tofu, speaking quietly and still not meeting Raven's eyes. "I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to get home."

* * *

Robin sighed and rubbed his temples as the last percentages of a loading bar crept across the screen of his laptop. Currently, Harley Quinn's picture was displayed along with her file. To the left was a long list of names, a good two third of which were crossed out in red. Bruce had already checked out as a paternal match for Damian long before Robin had gone to sleep last night but robin was still interested in trying to uncover the boy's mother. There was always a small chance that it was none of the women on batman's file, but that was unlikely. Judging from Damian's gear and his familiarity with Dick, it was likely he came from a dimension slightly in the future, possibly somewhere around eight to ten years. Given that he was ten or eleven years old and taking into account how Bruce flirted with some of his villains, it was highly likely that Damian's mother was someone Bruce had already encountered.

Still, he was starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel. Dick let out a breath of relief as Harley turned up negative.

Eventually robin decided that watching loading bars crawl across the screen would not make them move any faster. Robin entered the living area to Damian and Raven eating In silence. He took a seat across from the boy who was eating… squares of tofu? "Morning Raven. Damian." Both of them muttered 'morning' between bites. Neither of them looked up. Great.

"I have more questions for you. " He continued, addressing Damian. The boy sighed and put his form down, pushing his empty plate away. "Ask."

"I'd like to help send you home, so the first thing I need to know if how you got to this dimension. Do you remember anything before or after arriving?"

Damian considered the question before nodding. "I suppose that's a good place to start. The trip was disorienting, but I remember everything."

* * *

_Damian leaned his elbow on the door of the Batmobile, propping his chin up in the palm of his hand and watching the rain drip down the window. Normally he didn't mind when he patrolled with Grayson rather than father; he preferred it, in fact. However, ever since his near death experience at the hands of the Heretic Father had been patrolling with either Drake or Todd. When asked, his father simply said he was not needed. He was weak in his father's eyes… a failure._

"_Cheer up, Dami." Dick sympathized. "Bruce did the same thing to me. He's just scared right now." _

_Damian made a 'tt' sound, but there wasn't any feeling behind it. "Batman isn't afraid of anything. "_

"_No, Batman isn't afraid of anything." He agreed. "But Bruce is terrified of losing you."_

_Damian didn't know if that was true; But then again he had never been very good at gauging his father, while Grayson seemed to have some sixth sense for it. He took his arm of the door, facing forward again. Maybe Grayson was right. Not that Damian would ever tell him. Not that Damian needed to tell him. Grayson was smiling like he already knew. _

_A red blip appeared on the batmobile's GPS map. First Gotham Bank. A smirk crept across Robin's face as Dick sped up. "I love busy nights."_

_There were no immediate signs of break in at the bank. Batman even had to pick the lock on the front doors to get in. Inside was another story. It looked like a tornado had hit the teller's area: cash drawers were ripped open, cameras had been ripped from the walls, and paper littered the floor. The papers left a trail leading to the basement level of the bank. The muffled sounds of scuffling and muttered curses drifted up from the stairwell. Batman and robin moved together, drawing batarangs and leaping down to the basement floor. They arrived just in time to spot the blurry form of a man in a bright yellow costume melding right out of the vault door with an arm full of cash. He tilted his ridiculous black visor down to get a good look at the dynamic duo. "Wot? You knocking this place off too?"_

_Robin sneered at his terrible British accent and hurled his fistful of Birdarangs. The man was gone in a flash of yellow, appearing next to Robin with a large sack slung over his shoulder. "Aren't you a little young for this kind of gig?"_

_Damian could see Batman slowly reaching into his utility belt from the corner of his eye. "Tt. I don't need to be any older to beat you. Who are you supposed to be? A zoom knock off?" He glanced down at the black circle and lightning bolt symbol on the man's chest. "A Flash fan?"_

"_A do gooder, eh? Let's get something straight right now. I'm no knockoff and no fan. I- " He gestured to the symbol. "- am Johnny Quick, and you better get used to hearing that name, cause I'm taking over. "_

_The quiet clack of the pellets Batman threw down went unnoticed over Johnny's bragging. The pellets exploded, coating the speedster in a layer of frost and ice. Unfortunately for Batman and Robin this only slowed the crook down to normal speed. Johnny cried out in surprise, diving away and reaching into his sack for what Robin immediately assumed was a gun. Damian tackled Johnny, pinning his arms to his side. The moment Damian touched him his vision doubled, then tripled, and continued to rapidly duplicate until it looked like he was viewing the world through a kaleidoscope. Grayson's shout was too distorted to make out._

_As quickly as it began, Damian's vision snapped back to normal. He wasted no time in pounding his fists into Quick's face. The speedster was vibrating his molecules to melt through the ice, all the while growling obscenities and trying to protect his face. All too soon his speed returned. Quick caught robin's fists and threw the small boy over his head. Damian turned his fall into roll, diving behind cover as the speeder drew his strange weapon from the sack._

"_Serves you right, little bugger." He growled and pulled the trigger. Rather than firing a shot like Robin had expected, Johnny quick seemed to split into several increasingly transparent duplicates, then very suddenly snap together and disappear. _

_That was thoroughly unexpected. However, what annoyed Robin at the moment was Batman's lack of action. He had created a perfectly good opening and Grayson had let it pass by. Damian scoured the shadows to berate Batman, but Grayson was nowhere to be seen. "Tt". He tapped the communicator in his ear but all that came through was static. Something was very wrong. Damian flipped through frequencies, checking every associated bat family member. Todd, Oracle, Cassanda, Stepanie, Father, even Drake. Only static greeted Damian's ears. Suspicions rising, Damian scanned the bank basement for clues. It was the same building, the same time showed on a clock on a wall, but something was out of place. Damian ran his hands over the vault door. This is where his Birdarangs had hit, yet there wasn't a scratch anywhere, nor were the weapons lying on the floor. The casings from Batman's ice pellets had vanished as well._

_Damian noticed more discrepancies as he sneaked out of the bank. The front room was perfectly intact, the cameras were a bulkier older model, and the door batman had picked to get in was locked again. Damian stopped with is hand on the door. He narrowed his eyes, glaring at a calendar hanging on the wall to his left. _

_A calendar for the year 2006._

* * *

"The first place I went was the bunker, to gather supplies. You know the rest. "Damian finished. He had omitted the conversation with his Grayson in the batmobile, but let no nothing else out.

Dick studied him from across the table. "Why the bunker? Why not the Batcave?"

Damian glared at Dick and remained stubbornly tight lipped.

"What happened to Bruce?" he asked slowly.

Damian pushed his chair away from the table and brought his dirty plate to the sink. "Revealing information on the future can cause problems."

"This isn't your past, it's an alternate past." Robin argued.

Damian rounded on Dick in a sudden fury. "You don't know anything! Not only would you be altering your future, you could be altering it based on faulty information! You would make enemies or allies out of people based on what happened in _my_ universe when they could be the opposite here!"

Dick and Raven leaned back away from the boy, started by the sudden tirade. Damian stomped off out of the living room, passing Cyborg on the way out. The half man arched a curious brow at the retreating form of the fuming boy. "Sheesh. What's eating him?"

"A better question is what isn't eating him." Somehow Raven managed to convey amusement through that emotionless tone of hers.

Red lights and blaring alarms began to go off in Titan tower right as Cyborg opened the fridge. A screen popped up showing the Hive five in the middle of ransacking a museum.

"Aw man." Cyborg groaned "We just dealt with Mad Mod yesterday! Can't they give it a rest for a day? I haven't even eaten yet." He clutched his grumbling stomach in mock pain. Raven and Robin exchanged glances. He nodded, giving raven the go-ahead. "I'll watch the kid."

Robin propped his elbows on his knees as he sat on the couch, watching the Titans race off to deal with the Hive students.

Just as Robin was about to pull up a screen of Damian's room, a window popped up on its own. No flashing red lights or wailing sirens accompanied this video feed, but robin's blood ran cold at the sight of it. It was a video of the pier. Happy children laughed, coupled walked hand in hand clutching newly won oversized teddy bears and cotton candy, and on the struts of the Ferris wheel two discs embedded with stylized 'S's blinked with synchronized red digits. 5:23, 5:22, 5:21. Robin leapt to his feet and raced for the door. There was no time to consider how this was clearly a trap. He snatched his titan communicator off his belt and flipped it open. "TITANS-

"Ah-ah." Robin halted in his tracks. He turned slowly coming face to face with Slade on the screen. His one eye stared down at robin with a playful glee. "If you tell your friends, I'll just set them off now. "

Robin glared venomously at the man on the screen.

He snapped the communicator shut.

"Good boy, Robin." Slade vanished from the screen before Robin could spit an insult at him. The visage of the two-toned mask was replaced with a countdown timer. Brimming with impotent fury, Robin turned on his heel and strode out the door.

He nearly walked right into Damian. The boy stood before him in full costume, meaning he had stolen his utility belt and Katana back. Damian smirked up at him, pounding a fist into his palm.

"Are you going to stand in front of the door all morning, Grayson? Let's go."

* * *

_Note: Johnny Quick is a member of the Crime Syndicate in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. The Crime Syndicate's original plan for their trans-dimensional device was to rob other universes blind._


End file.
